All Come!

From Luke 14
13. ...when you give a banquet, invite the poor and the disenfranchised...invite the crippled and the helpless...invite the lame...invite the blind;

14. If you do that you will be fully blessed. And although these people can't repay you, you will be repaid in the bigger picture with resurrection life and the benefits of righteousness."

15. When one of the guests at the table heard Him say this, he blurted out, "How blessed are those who will eat at the celebration feast in the Kingdom of God!"

16. This prompted Jesus to expound some more on the subject. He said, "There was a certain man who prepared an extravagant banquet, and invited many guests to it.

17. When it was time for the banquet to commence, he sent his personal servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come now...the table is set...everything is ready.'

18. But each of the invited guests that he approached began to make ridiculous excuses. The first one to whom he spoke said, 'You know what? I've just bought a field, and I have to go right now and see it. Please send my regrets.'

19. The next one said, 'Listen, I've just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way, even as we speak, to try them out. Thanks, anyway.'

20. Still another said, 'Hey, I just got married, so I obviously can't come.'

21. So the servant came back and reported all of this to his employer. Then the owner of the house felt insulted, and became incensed. So he ordered his servant, 'Go out immediately into the streets and back-alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.'

22. In a short while the servant responded, 'Sir, what you've ordered has been done, but there is still room at your table.'

23. Undaunted, the host told his servant, 'All right then...go out to the dirt roads and country lanes, and compel the rest of them to come in...drag them in if you have to...I want my house to be full!'"

24. Then Jesus said, "I tell you the truth...not one of those who were privileged to be originally invited to My feast will get so much as a taste of the food at My Kingdom-banquet."
(This is a paraphrase in progress by bishop Jim Swilley)
-------
Ya' know, I still have the word 'embrace' floating around in my mind, not sure all the reasons, but I'm seeking to embrace more of God and His Kingdom in me and His Spirit. My prayer is that you seek, find, enter and live joyfully in His Kingdom and wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him today!